The Secret Admirer Romance Collection

by Barratt, Amanda; Beatty, Lorraine; Bull, Molly Noble

  Deke and his grandfather were nowhere to be seen, but fifteen minutes had not yet passed so she had no concern of their whereabouts. Stepping out onto the porch, she found Eli waiting for her.

  Oh, their plan. She’d almost forgotten.

  “Look, things have changed. I don’t need for you to do what we planned. If you’ll just take my trunks out of the buggy and put them in the wagon, we will call it all off.”

  “Oh, no,” he said. “I can’t do that. We made a deal and I swore a promise.”

  Pearl shook her head. “You don’t understand. See, Deke and I mended our differences. We’re leaving together.”

  “Yes, that’s true. Now get on in so we can surprise your husband.”

  “No, that’s not what—”

  Her words were squelched when Eli picked her up and deposited her in the buggy. “Remember, I promised I’d get you there no matter how it happened.”

  “Eli, please listen. I’m going in the wagon with Deke. It’s fine.”

  He regarded her from his place on the seat beside her. “You made me swear a promise, Pearl, and I am keeping it. Now I am going to need you to get in that feed sack like we planned.”

  “No, truly, I—”

  The air went out of her as Eli snatched her across the seat and placed a bandanna over her mouth. “I’m so sorry, Pearl. I’m just doing what you told me to. Remember that, won’t you?”

  He settled her gently into the feed sack and placed her on the floor of the buggy then drove along the back trail leading to town, all the while apologizing that he’d had to do as she asked despite her protests. Once she realized that she would end up on the train whether she fought this and somehow got out of the feed sack or whether she went along with the plan and ended up surprising Deke, Pearl relaxed. Indeed her husband would be surprised.

  If only she could see well enough to write another letter to Frank. But then Frank had no patience for Deke’s stubbornness. Urging Pearl to make another choice, to pick a man who was worthy of her, had become a common theme.

  Pearl knew Deke was that man. She prayed now that he would prove this to her.

  Chapter 7

  Pearl’s trunks were not in the wagon. His heart still hurt when he recalled the empty wagon and the absence of both Pearl’s trunks and her father’s buggy.

  She’d gone. The princess who’d stolen his heart beneath a falling star had been pushed so far away by his stubbornness that she’d given up on him.

  Deke made himself as comfortable as he could manage in the salon of his grandfather’s railcar as the porter busied himself preparing the table for dinner. They left the station more than an hour ago, and guilt had chased him the whole time.

  Perhaps if he’d been more insistent to keep her close rather than allow her to be alone with her father, she would not have returned home with him.

  And she might have chosen him rather than that fellow in Denver as it appeared she had. Then there was the kiss that still seared his lips. He’d been kissed before, but never like that.

  To distract himself, Deke went to the pile of work demanding his attention. Grandfather walked through the salon, but Deke did not look up. In the absence of conversation, the old man returned to his chamber.

  Several times, however, the porter returned and seemed to give him strange looks. Finally, Deke said, “Is there something wrong?”

  “No, I don’t suppose,” he said, “although I do wonder if you’ve checked your sleeping chamber since arriving on the train to…” The porter seemed to be at a loss for words, though a deep crimson rose in his cheeks. “Well, I just wondered about your luggage, sir.”

  “My luggage?” Deke shrugged. “I’m sure everything is fine. No need to check.”

  He edged a step closer. “You’re certain about that?”

  “I am,” he said to the pesky porter.

  “Yes, all right. Very well, Mr. Wyatt,” he said before hurrying away, his brows raised.

  Deke pulled the folder of documents on the Barretts that he’d yet to go through and began reading and making notes. Though he had no idea how long he’d been staring at the pages, Deke did realize the porter had somehow managed to light the lamps without him taking notice.

  He lined the pages up under the lamplight as a growing dread surfaced. Here in front of him was undisputable proof that the deposits made by Wyatt and Barrett companies totaled exactly the amounts Grandfather had written into the firm ledger.

  Deke dug further and found transactions that made no sense. Ledger entries that spoke of deceit at a level that stunned Deke.

  “So you’ve found them, I see.”

  Deke whirled around to see his grandfather standing there.

  “I did it for you,” he said. “For your mother, too, of course, but more for you. You’re my heir apparent, Deke. I had to secure your future.”

  “My future is fine,” he said. “Though yours is in doubt.”

  “What will you do?” Grandfather asked as he scrubbed his face with his hands.

  “I don’t know.” He paused. “But I know what you will do. Make this right. Go through every transaction and account for it. Pay back every cent to John Barrett and admit to him and my mother and brothers what you’ve done.”

  Grandfather closed the distance between them to place his hand on Deke’s shoulder. “I was wrong to do this. My intentions were good, but I took the wrong path in carrying them out. However, I was right in saying you are the heir apparent. You’re a wise man, Deke Wyatt.”

  “I wish I could agree,” he said as he patted his grandfather’s hand and then rose. “I am guilty of a terrible choice, and I wish I had a way of repairing it.”

  “The Barrett girl?” Grandfather said.

  Deke nodded. “I think I’ll go to bed now,” he said. “I just don’t feel up to dinner.”

  Grandfather nodded. “Thank you,” he said as he embraced Deke. “I am proud of you.”

  Deke walked down the hall to his bedchamber, one of two in the railcar, and found the gas lamps had not been lit. Fumbling for the lamp, he heard a woman’s giggle.

  Before he could react, a distinctly female voice said, “Hush, husband, or your grandfather will know your wife is here.”

  Deke grinned. “Princess?” he said as he fumbled around in the darkness for his wife but found feed sack burlap instead.

  “I do like the sound of that,” Pearl said softly.

  “When your trunks weren’t in the wagon, I thought you’d left me.”

  “There’s actually a funny story connected to that, but first, would you mind turning on the gas lamp? I’m in need of assistance.”

  “Of course.”

  After a moment, he managed to light the lamp, plunging the room into brilliant light. As his eyes adjusted to the brightness, he spied a feed sack on the bed where he expected to find his wife.

  “Princess?”

  “Yes, Deke,” she said. “I’m in the feed sack again, though I don’t think it’s the same one. This one is nice and clean.”

  Deke made short work of releasing his wife from her burlap prison then held her tight. “Who did this?”

  “Eli,” she said with a giggle. “See, when I thought you were leaving without me, I went to Eli with a plan to save our marriage. He agreed to help. Please don’t be mad at him, because he did this for you.”

  “He stuffed my wife in a feed sack and delivered her to the railcar instead of allowing her to just ride in the wagon with me?” Deke swept the feed sack onto the floor and sat on the edge of the bed. “I assume this is the funny story you planned to tell me.”

  “It is. See, the plan was to get me on this train no matter what I told him once we’d set everything in motion, even if I told him later that I had changed my mind. My thinking was that I knew I needed to be with you and, should someone talk me out of it, I wanted a backup. Does that make sense?”

  “Not a bit,” Deke admitted.

  “Well, in any case, Eli played his part too well. W
hen I met him at the preplanned spot to let him know I was going with you after all and all was well, he did as I asked him to and ignored me.”

  Deke shook his head. “You told him you were going to the train so he threw you in the feed sack and took you to the train.” He paused. “I assume that’s how you got here.”

  “It is,” she said. “Eli was determined to follow the plan exactly.”

  He shrugged. “I admit it’s an odd plan, but I cannot complain, because it brought you here to me.”

  “Yes, it did,” Pearl said as she wrapped her arms around him.

  “Never leave me again. I’m an idiot and slow to admit things, but I love you. More than anything, I love you.” He paused. “Although I have to warn you that once we get to Washington, DC, we may end up turning around and coming right back to Polecat Creek Ranch.”

  “I don’t mind,” she said. “Wherever you go, I will go.”

  “Then I declare you the princess of Polecat Creek,” he said as he pulled her closer and traced the line of her jaw with his kisses. “I had hoped to promise you all of Washington, DC, at your feet and possibly the chance to be married to a man who had dealings with the president himself, but I would rather have you than all of that. I know that now.”

  He swooped in to kiss her, but to his surprise, she pulled away. “You never told me you wanted to work with the president.”

  “No,” he said slowly, “I don’t suppose I did. It’s just been a dream of mine to use what I have learned as a lawyer to make a difference. I study cases like the one I told you about yesterday in order to learn as much as I can about patents and laws related to new ideas and inventions. I don’t believe we’re doing enough as a country to keep those who invent things protected from those who wish to steal those inventions.” Deke chuckled under his breath. “Listen to me. The wife I thought was gone is right here in my chamber and I am talking business.” He lifted her hand to kiss her fingers. “Will you forgive me? I promise not to say another word about work or politics or anything else you don’t want to hear about.”

  “Of course,” she said, “but only if you will make just one promise.”

  “Anything.”

  She smiled. “Just take me to a wedding next week. I cannot give you the details right now because I am sworn to secrecy. However, I promise it will be one place where politics may be acceptable to be discussed. As long as you aren’t opposed to the new president’s views.”

  He thought a moment. “Will I know the couple?”

  Again she giggled. “I feel certain you will know the groom, which is why I am sworn to secrecy. I can tell you the bride is my dear friend Frank.”

  “I am earning forgiveness by escorting you to a highly secret wedding between a mystery groom who is known to me and a woman named Frank who is known to you?” Deke shook his head. “Woman, you are as perplexing a female as ever drew a breath, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

  Epilogue

  June 2, 1886

  The Executive Mansion

  Washington, DC

  Deke walked through the door of the White House’s Blue Room two steps behind his wife. In the time since they arrived in Washington, DC, he had come to realize how incomplete his life had been before she stepped back into it.

  His gaze scanned the room, catching sight of an impressive group of a half dozen or so men whose reputations in world politics preceded them. Though these men effectively ruled most of the free world, their women stole this show. Between their lively conversation and their even livelier dresses and hats, the political wives were an impressive lot on their own.

  But the most beautiful of all was the woman who woke up beside him this morning.

  Pearl turned to bid him follow, and he did as she asked. “I do so wish I could have introduced you to Frank before the wedding, but there’s just been no time.”

  Just as Deke was about to sit down beside his wife, one of the White House staff tapped him on the shoulder. “Mr. Wyatt, I have a message for you with best wishes on your recent marriage to Mrs. Wyatt.”

  Deke accepted the folded note and returned to take his seat. Turning the note over, he broke the wax that displayed the seal of the president of the United States, and then showed the note to Pearl.

  “How nice,” she said as if receiving a personal note from the president of the United States with congratulations on your marriage was the most natural thing in the world.

  Unfolding the note, he read these words:

  Mr. Wyatt,

  I have been remiss in offering a proper congratulations to you for marrying our dear friend Pearl. Please accept my deepest apologies for this grievous error. May I make it up to you by sending for you Tuesday next at nine in the morning? I have heard from reliable sources that you show great promise in the field of laws regarding patents. I have a great need for a man like you to advise me in this important matter.

  The signature read simply “Grover Cleveland, President of the United States.”

  When he could manage to assemble a coherent thought, Deke turned to his wife and thrust the note in her direction.

  “That’s very nice of him,” she said after she’d read it.

  “‘That’s very nice of him’? That’s all you can say? Do you realize this is—”

  “The president,” she supplied. “Well, of course, I do, but you’re simply going to have to put that note away. The music is starting and, oh, look, there’s Frank.”

  Deke turned in the direction where his wife had nodded and spied a lovely young woman in an ivory-colored bridal gown. The bride winked at Pearl as she walked past them.

  “Isn’t she lovely?” Pearl asked.

  “Not as lovely as you,” he said as he turned back around to where the bride had stopped beside her groom.

  He reached for his wife’s hand and drew her close enough to whisper. “You didn’t tell me she was marrying…”

  “Grover?” Pearl shrugged. “I told you I was sworn to secrecy. However, Grover is keen to get to know you. He is such a dear.”

  “You refer to a United States president as a dear and you knew before anyone else he was marrying your friend.” Deke shook his head. “Will the rest of our life together be filled with surprises like this?”

  Pearl grinned. “As princess of Polecat Creek, I declare it shall be so.”

  Even though the wedding of the century was happening nearby, while all others were watching the president marry his bride, Deke gave his wife a proper kiss to celebrate.

  Author’s Note

  While I try to stay as true to history as possible, I did break a few time line rules in this novel. Frances Folsom, known as Frank to her friends, did attend Wells College, did have a long and secret courtship with Grover Cleveland, and did marry him on June 2, 1886.

  In the story, the marriage was a surprise to everyone but very close friends of the bride and groom, including my fictional lead character Pearl Barrett. In reality, the group of less than thirty close friends and political allies who attended the ceremony did have five days’ notice in the form of a written letter from the groom himself. The wedding was held at seven o’clock in the evening in the Blue Room of the Executive Mansion, and the Marine Band, directed by John Philip Sousa, provided the music.

  President Cleveland was forty-nine years old when he wed twenty-one-year-old Frances Folsom. Cleveland was her late father’s law partner and the executor of his estate. He was known to say that he had to wait for his bride to grow up before he could marry her.

  Bestselling author Kathleen Y’Barbo is a Romantic Times Inspirational Book of the Year winner as well as a multiple RITA and Carol Award nominee of more than eighty novels with more than two million copies of her books in print in the United States and abroad. A tenth-generation Texan and certified paralegal, Kathleen resides in central Texas with her very own hero in combat boots.

  To find out more about Kathleen or connect with her through social media, check out her website at www.kathleenyba
rbo.com.

  Love from Afar

  by Penny Zeller

  Dedication

  To my oldest daughter. I am beyond blessed to be your mom.

  Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the LORD.

  PSALM 27:14

  Chapter 1

  Another wedding dress completed.

  Another happy ending.

  Just never her own.

  Pushing reality aside, Meredith Waller bustled up the front steps of the Goff residence. She draped the wedding dress over her arm and tapped on the door, eager for the recipient to see her latest sewing creation.

  “What a pleasure to see you. Do come in, Meredith.” Mrs. Goff, a round and jolly sort, beckoned Meredith to enter the humble home she had visited so many times throughout the years.

  But this time was different. This time, Meredith would be assisting her best friend, Roxie Goff, in starting a new chapter of her life. A life that involved matrimonial vows.

  A life that seemed more distant and unreachable for Meredith as the years passed by.

  Meredith promptly quelled the feelings of jealousy not only of Roxie but of all the other young brides who had come before Roxie, as well. These women were Meredith’s friends. How could she even think of entertaining such covetous thoughts?

  “Meredith, you have my dress!” Roxie, a younger version of her mother, rushed toward Meredith, her arms outstretched in anticipation. She offered to take the quilt-covered gown.

  “I hope you like it.”

  “How could I not? You are only the best wedding dress seamstress west of the Mississippi.”

  Meredith laughed at her friend’s proclamation. “I don’t know if my legendary wedding dress skills are known from that great a distance.”